> First, I believe the part of the Bible you're thinking of is the Old > Testament, which largely becomes useless in Christian thinking after the > arrival of the New Testament This is a highly questionable line of thought, as the New Testament relies heavily on the Old Testament to explain its legitimacy. For example, in order for Jesus to be the Messiah, he must adhere to the OT rules for the Messiah, which early Christian writers and the NT itself go to great pains to prove (IIRC, one of the Gospels attempts to directly tie Jesus to the bloodline of David). Also, there is no difference at all between the OT god and the NT god - - they are, in fact, the same god. The only reason, it seems to me, that people want the NT to supercede the OT is to reconcile the brutal, violent god of the OT to the peaceful, loving god of the NT. -Ari